Quick release buckle



M. L. PEDERSON QUICK RELEASEBUCKLE Filed Oct. 10, 1955 J16 J02 J04? J22 J40 Jan. 12, 1960 INVENTOR.

Me's tel. P504713? J04 J06 J84 Patented Jan. 12, 1960 2,920,366 QUICK RELEASE BUCKLE Meyer L. Pedersou, La Jolla, Calif. Application October 10, 1955, Serial No. 539,540 8 Claims. 01. 24-170 The present invention is directed generally to the provision of a buckle or connecting member for belts, straps or the like and particularly relates to such a device capable of being quickly released or unbuckled by the use of only one hand of the wearer or user.

The device is particularly useful in connection with equipment customarily worn by those engaged in deep sea diving or similar occupations where weights, tools or other items may be suspended from a belt. Not infrequently under emergency conditions, it becomes necessary to rapidly release the buckle of such a belt in order to permit the diver to move quickly to safety. It i will be seen that a buckle meeting these requirements must be foolproof in operation and should be releasable by the movement of only one hand of the person wearing the buckle. In other situations it may be desirable to release a belt rapidly but retain the belt proper in one hand after release.

The present device, in the form of a generally H-shaped frame and a bracket pivotally connected to the frame, meets this need. The frame provides for the pivotal mounting of a locking member, such pivotal mounting being spaced from the axis of pivotal connection between the frame and the bracket. The locking member, when the buckle is in locked position, is adapted to engage a support stop portion of the bracket, which is spaced from the aforementioned axis of pivotal connection between the frame and bracket. The bracket is securely retained in locked position relative to the frame by frictional engagement with the frame until a sharp tug or jerk is applied to the end of the bracket distant from the pivotal axis. This force may be applied directly to the bracket by means of a lanyard or the like, or may be applied to the free end of the belt. Resultant movement of the bracket relative to the frame pivotally moves the support stop portion of the bracket away from the locking member, thus permitting the locking member to be disengaged from the belt or strap previously held by it. The construction of the buckle insures that a sharp pull is necessary to unlock it, so that inadvertent disengagement of the belt is 'virtually impossible.

The locking member may assume any of a number of specific forms. A preferred embodiment of the invention herein described and illustrated comprises a locking member of somewhat resilient material such as metal strip, desirably arcuately shaped.

A principal object of the invention is therefore to disclose a novel quick release buckle for connecting strap-like members such as ends of a belt.

Another object is to provide a quick release buckle having a pivotally mounted locking member adapted to engage the support stop portion of a bracket pivotally connected to a frame supporting the locking member.

A further object of the invention is to disclose a device of the above character permitting release or unlocking of the buckle of a single sharp jerk on the support bracket or upon the free end of the belt itself.

. A still further object is to disclose a buckle alfording the above advantage in use and having a frame provided with only two parts pivotally movable relative to the frame.

Another object of the invention is to disclose a device of the above character adapted to remain in locked condition under any conditions of stress applied to the belt until forcibly unlocked by an external'force sharply applied to the bracket or to the free end of the belt.

These and other and allied objects and purposes of the invention will become clear from the following description of preferred embodiments thereof taken in connection with the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is asectional view of an alternative form of the invention, the buckle being in closed position.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the device of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a view similar to that of Fig. 1 but showing the parts during the releasing operation of the buckle, just as the locking member is clearing the support stop member.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on the broken line lV-IV of Fig. 3.

A preferred form of the quick release buckle in accordance with the present invention includes a locking I member frictionally engaging the belt or strap to be buckled. This form of the invention is shown in the drawing, and includes a generally H-shaped frame indicated generally at having a pair of relatively deep longitudinal side members or arms 102 and 104 joined by a transversely extending cross bar 106 spaced from the ends of the side members 102 and 104. A belt indicated generally at 84 is provided with a loop 86 engaging a cross member 88 fixed to the arms 102 and 104 and extending therebetween, the end of the belt being fastened at 90 in conventional manner. A second belt, indicated generally at 92, includes an end 94, and belts 92 and 84 may be opposite ends of the same belt, as will be understood.

A locking member indicated generally at 108 is pivotally connected to the cross bar 106 and'in this embodiment of the invention takes the form of a somewhat resilient strip of metal assuming a generally curved or spiral like configuration as seen'in section as in Figs. 1 and 3. At the outer or distal end of the locking member 108 there is provided a flattened portion 110 whose distal edge 112 is desirably roughened or serrated in outline as seen in Figs. 2 and 4.

The buckle includes'a bracket indicated generally at 116 and pivotally connected to the H-shaped frame at the pivotal axis 118 formed by a bar or rod extending transversely of the buckle at the ends of the arms 102. and 104 and fixed thereto. The bracket 116 includes a pair of longitudinally extending side members or arms 122 and 124 pivotally engaging the outer ends of the pivot bar 118 and extending substantially the same length as the arms 102 and 104 of the frame proper. At the distal end of the bracket 116 there is provided an abutment member 126 fixed at its ends to the ends of the side members 122 and 124, and centrally of the abutment member 126 there is fixed a suitable attachment element such as ring 128 to which a lanyard indicated generally at 130 may be connected in known manner. The abutment-member 126 serves the same purpose as that of member 50 previously described in preventing pivotal rotation of the bracket 116 on the frame beyond a predetermined point where the frame arms and bracket arms are in frictional engagement and are substantially parallel.

Stop support means are provided in association with the bracket 116 for engagement with the locking member 108." In the present illustration such means are indicated generally at 134 and include an upper member 136 fixed to arms 122 and 124, a central depending wall portion 138, and a pair of laterally spaced lips 140 and 142 projecting longitudinally from the bottom of the wall 138 away from the pivotal axis 118. The lips are spaced apart by a distance slightly greater than the width of the belt or strap with which the buckle is to be used. Thus, as clearly appears in Figs. 2 and 4, the strap 92 lies between the projecting lips 140 and 142 and the side edges of the strap 92 are spaced slightly inwardly out of contact with the lips. With respect to the pivot pin 118, the distal surface of wall 138 is provided in its lower portion with a series of transversely extending ridges 150 for engagement with the belt 92 when the buckle is in closed position as will be now described.

With the buckle in closed position and in locking engagement with a belt, the parts assume the position seen in Figs. 1 and 2. As there appears, the ridges or serrations 112 formed in the distal edge of locking member 108 are in frictional contact with one surface of the belt 92, forcing the other surface of the belt into frictional gripping relation with the locking ridges 150 formed on the lower portion of the wall member 138. Because of the curvilinear configuration of the locking member 108 and the resilience of the material of which it is made, this locking contact is sufficient to retain the belt 92 securely. It will be noted that the end portions of the outer part 110 of the locking member are prevented from further downward movement by abutment against the lips 140 and 142 projecting from the wall 138, and clockwise rotation of the locking member 108 as seen in Fig. 1 is thus positively prevented.

The buckle may be unlocked or released in the follow ing manner. As appears in Fig. 3, the lanyard 130 may be pulled manually or otherwise in the direction of the arrow 160, thus exerting an upward force upon the free or distal end of the pivoted bracket 116. Since both the locking member 108 and the bracket 116 are pivotally connected to the side members 102 and 104 of the frame, it will be seen that some point in the upward pivotal movement of the bracket 116 the pressure of the outer end 110 of the locking member 108 against the belt 92 will be insufficient to hold the belt in looking engagement with the locking ridges 150 of the wall 138. At such point the belt 92 will be released from the buckle and may be freely withdrawn therefrom. Further pivotal movement of the bracket 116 will bring the parts to the position shown in Fig. 3. It will be observed that the outer end 110 of the locking member 108 is just about to clear the ends of the projecting tips 140 and 142 carried by the lower end of the wall 133. Slight additional pivotal movement of the bracket 116 in a clockwise direction as seen in Fig. 3 will permit the locking member 108 to fall completely free of the bracket 116 since its outer end part 110 is no longer in contact with the support tips 140 and 142. Under these latter conditions it will be obvious that the belt 92 may be quickly withdrawn from the buckle without frictional interference with any portion of the buckle.

It is to be observed that the unlocking or releasing of the buckle as just described may be accomplished also by force applied to the end portion 94 of the belt 92, rather than to the lanyard 130 if so desired. When the buckle is to be released in this manner, it will be seen that the outer end portion 94 of the belt will itself apply force to the abutment member 126 of the bracket 116, thus accomplishing the unlocking operation in precisely the same manner as though the unlocking force had been applied to the lanyard 130.

There is desirably provided in this embodiment of the invention some appreciable degree of resistance to the initial opening movement of the bracket 116 from the frame. Desirably this is provided in the present invention by the frictional contact existing between the inner surfaces of the longitudinal members 122 and 124 of the bracket 116 and the outer surfaces of the longitudinal members 102 and 104 of the frame. Once the resistance due to this frictional contact is overcome by the initial jerk or tug on the lanyard or the belt end 94, the entire buckle moves easily and relatively freely to the fully open position, thus completely disengaging the belt "-12 from the buckle.

Modifications and changes from the specific form of the invention hereinabove shown and described are within my contemplation and are intended to be embraced within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A buckle comprising: an H-shaped frame having a pair of laterally spaced arms provided with fiat parallel outer surfaces and a cross bar extending between and fixed to the arms intermediate their ends; a locking member pivotally carried on the cross bar; a bracket including a pair of arms provided with flat parallel inner surfaces. the bracket and frame arms being of substantially equal length and being connected for pivotal movement about an axis adjacent their ends whereby the surfaces of frame and bracket arms are juxtaposed in frictional contact when the buckle is closed with frame and bracket arms in side-by-side relation, said bracket including rigid stop support means between the bracket arms and carried thereby between the cross bar and axis when the buckle is in closed position and an abutment member fixed to the distal ends of the bracket arms and extending therebetween for preventing pivotal movement of the bracket relative to the frame in one direction beyond buckleclosed position, said stop support means including a pair of laterally spaced lips projecting away from said axis, said lips being contactable by said locking member in buckle-closed position.

2. The invention as stated in claim 1 wherein said locking member is of arcuately formed resilient strip material.

3. The invention as stated in claim 2 wherein the locking member includes a serrated outer end portion.

4. A quick release buckle comprising: a frame having a pair of laterally spaced side members and a transverse member extending between and fixed to the side members; a bracket pivotally connected to the frame about a transverse axis and adapted to lie in generally coplanar relation with the frame in buckle-closed position and to swing upwardly therefrom to open the buckle, the bracket including a face spaced from and directed away from said axis; and a locking member pivotally carried by the frame spaced from said axis, including an outer end portion resiliently biased toward said face in buckleclosed position whereby to clampingly grasp a belt between the outer end and the face.

5. The invention as stated in claim 4 wherein said face is provided with a roughened surface.

6. The invention as stated in claim 4 wherein the bracket is provided with lip support means adjacent the face and projecting away from said axis, the end portion of the locking element being abuttable against said means in buckle-closed position.

7. The invention as stated in claim 4 wherein said locking element outer end portion is serrated.

8. The invention as stated in claim 4 wherein the locking element comprises an arcuate metal strip.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 245,729 Landis Aug. 16, 1881 1,448,993 Dahlgren Mar. 20, 1923 2,146,003 Walker Feb. 7, 1939 2,816,339 Prete et al. Dec. 17, 1957 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,147 Great Britain 1901 48,392 Germany Aug. 31, 1889 251,473 Switzerland Aug. 2, 1948 300,117 Switzerland Jan. 3, 1955 

